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This was definitely the question for me when I bought my Seawing Nova's last week to get set for my OW class coming up. I have snorkeled in U.S. Divers Rocket fins but never with splits so as you can probably guess I am following these types of threads with great interest. I have not used my Nova's yet so I would be willing to bet that my LDS would swap me out if I wanted to.
I'd hold on to my Novas. I used SP Twin-Jet Max split fins up until a couple of months ago when I did a side-by-side comparison of my TJ Max's against a pair of SeaWing Nova's. I found the Nova's superior in all aspects: speed, thrust, manueverability, comfort. They felt a litle funky at first compared with other fins I'd used, mainly due to the way the blade hinges, but once I got used to it, they worked great!
I'd hold on to my Novas. I used SP Twin-Jet Max split fins up until a couple of months ago when I did a side-by-side comparison of my TJ Max's against a pair of SeaWing Nova's. I found the Nova's superior in all aspects: speed, thrust, manueverability, comfort. They felt a litle funky at first compared with other fins I'd used, mainly due to the way the blade hinges, but once I got used to it, they worked great!
Split fins users or Nova users......What is your "Reason" for not giving Freedive fins a shot? Haven't you ever been on a boat where there were freedive fin users that just moved around far beyond your abilities to propel yourselves?
With DiveR freediving fins, you can hover motionless, you can barely move forward or backward with a resting oulse, you can remain at a resting pulse ( and breathing rate) when all the split or jet fin divers are at high breathing rates due to exertion, or , you can go over twice the speed of the split fin users if you want to follow some big marine life, like a whaleshark, a dolphin, a sailfish, a goliath grouper, a sea turtle, a nurseshark of big atlantic ray, or just stay immeresed in a big school of baitfish ( we do these things in Palm Beach, frequently, so I wonder why you would not want this???? )
I'd hold on to my Novas. I used SP Twin-Jet Max split fins up until a couple of months ago when I did a side-by-side comparison of my TJ Max's against a pair of SeaWing Nova's. I found the Nova's superior in all aspects: speed, thrust, manueverability, comfort. They felt a litle funky at first compared with other fins I'd used, mainly due to the way the blade hinges, but once I got used to it, they worked great!
Yeah, I am going to hang on to them my instructor assured me that if I did not like them after OW cert then I could trade them in for splits if I wanted to. I did take them back to the LDS for a color swap though. I am partial to blue so I traded in my black Nova's for a pair of blue ones with a strong assurance from my instructor that if anything ever did go wrong with them they would replace them with whatever set of fins I want. I am sure that would be price range comparative of course.
OBTW I like your handle...that's got me crackin' up!!!
Yeah, I am going to hang on to them my instructor assured me that if I did not like them after OW cert then I could trade them in for splits if I wanted to. I did take them back to the LDS for a color swap though. I am partial to blue so I traded in my black Nova's for a pair of blue ones with a strong assurance from my instructor that if anything ever did go wrong with them they would replace them with whatever set of fins I want. I am sure that would be price range comparative of course.
That's funny. I did the same thing last week. I bought a pair of black ones back in September, but when they came out with the blue ones last month, I had to have a pair; so I sold my black ones and got some blues
Originally Posted by RollinontheRvr
OBTW I like your handle...that's got me crackin' up!!!
Yeah, Cheech and Chong were a big influence on me growing up...
I've always been open minded on fins and over the years I've tried many different designs - including various split fins and force fins. But every time, for my kind of diving, I have gone back to Jet fins, or more recently the OMS Slipstream equivalent.
Split fins are easy to kick and allow a rapid kick cycle, but they don't produce much thrust, especially at lower forward speeds. They also don't have much of a glide phase with the high cycle rate flutter kick where they are most efficient. In a single tank configuration it does not matter much. But when a 200 pound diver has on 100-150 pounds of technical diving equipment and a drysuit, split fins lack the low speed thrust to get you moving with all that drag and inertia. And once moving, the slow frog kick and glide with a large pair of jets is more efficient and more sustainable over a 2-3 hour dive at a 50-70 fpm speed than are split fins. And with the extra drag of a tech configuration, doubles, stage, etc, split fins just don't get the job done in a cave, especially with a less silt producing frog kick where split fins are much less efficient.
Similarly, back kicks helicopter turns etc, have more authority with jets than with split fins, especially in doubles, and in a cave environment precision control is important.
And I am one of those people who maintain that split fins don't back up well. I do pool lengths backwards when swimming with no fins or scuba gear and as someone noted earlier, you can back up in a single tank with no fins at all. So before you claim the prowess of back kicking in split fins, try it with the fins off and see how much if any improvement the split fins really add.
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Originally Posted by RollinontheRvr
